Reading, listening to, and questioning America... from the southern Great Plains

"Micromanager" on the lam

That's what the piles of documents removed from bin Laden's hidey-hole reveal him to have been.

A trove of digital communications and hand-written notes show how bin Laden ran his weakened network from his solitary hideout in a garrison town in Pakistan. He was especially engaged in decisions about leadership posts and developing plots, the officials said.

Bin Laden's writings discuss his strategic goal of carrying out attacks that would prevent President Obama from being re-elected, though he also wrote that "the alternative could be worse," a U.S. counterterror official said.

"He talks about targeting priorities," the counterterror official said. "He says the president is of course the top target if you could get a shot at him. Also the military chiefs like the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the defense secretary, top military people. There is a note indicating that the vice president is not an important target because that position has less weight." ...Pro Publica

The notion that the Pakistan government had no knowledge of his presence in Abbottabad seems like sheer nonsense. More to the point, I think statements about that will be 99% political mixed with a hair' sbreadth of truth.

"There is no evidence that the Pakistani government knew he was there," the U.S. official said. "But the questions still have to be answered."

Questions? Like, "Will you keep lid on those nukes if we're nice to you?" Huh?